Governor Strickland spends much of his time on the campaign trail for fellow Democrats, but he keeps one eye on Wall Street.
He says the economic swings these past few days hurt Ohio, but not as deeply as they might have had he not signed legislation reducing the state budget by one-and-a-quarter-billion dollars. He believes the cuts are keeping state government from suffering further slowdowns now.
GOVERNOR STRICKLAND: "We are trying to be prudent, we are watching the budget carefully, we do have some serious challenges, but I think our state's budget is frankly, not as severly challenged as many other states."
His other eye is on the race for president, particularly as the campaign rhetoric has become increasingly nasty. Governor Strickland admits he is disappointed by the new tenor.
GOVERNOR STRICKLAND: "Sarah Palin is a sad figure I think. She's being used by the McCain campaign to say these outrageous things. To say that Barack Obama is buddies with terrorists. I mean how low can you go?"
The Governor plans to be with Obama in Portsmouth, later this week.
